Perhaps because the data show that cases are slowing down.

Shouldn't this tester be wearing an FFP3 mask? She seems to be wearing a surgical mask. I think longer gloves are also recommended.

(source: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/mar/30/uk-coronavirus-live-rate-infection-lockdown-covid-19)

Obviously 'essential' means different things to different people. I have just returned from Weymouth after fitting new tyre and buying essentials at ASDA. First time out since last Monday.

On the way back passed someone towing a speedboat to who knows where.

Nick

Exactly so. With an incubation period of typically 7-14 days we need to wait for a couple of weeks to see the possible impact of any changes. I think what we're seeing now may reflect the precautions and changed behaviours of individuals before the government edict last week. 

The same will apply on the way out of this: a gradual easing followed by a period to assess the impact. I think that might be the more difficult, protracted period because people will have been through weeks of severe restrictions and there must be a risk of a collective sigh of relief and too many people trying to return to normality.

It seems likely that controls on events where large numbers gather could continue for quite some time. Maybe allowing more shops to open but with tight controls over how many are allowed in a shop at any one time and re-opening parks and public spaces, again with some controls.  Somehow I can't see large numbers being allowed at sporting events for some time after the rules start to be eased.

Looking further ahead, with the virus likely to be raging through other parts of the world such as the Indian Subcontinent and Africa, controls on movement are likely to remain for a very long time.

This was from the BBC earlier:

Spain has reported 812 new deaths related to coronavirus since Sunday.

Authorities said nearly 6,400 more people have also been infected.

Hubby’s OK thanks!  His symptoms are no worse but there’s the worry of not knowing what this thing inside him is doing!  He also considered going private for his surgery, but as you say, that isn’t an option now.  We live with the thought that others are worse off than us, so we shouldn’t complain!  

It is a bit ironic that we’ve worked all our lives into our sixties, with no illness or injury and never having real need for the NHS until now, when everyone else needs it too!  Sod’s law!  

Those might be the official stats, but they bear no relationship whatsoever to reality worldwide. The contagion is ripping through Pakistan for example, but because their test rates are so low and their health systems so creaking, there is no reliable value for the numbers. Same goes for rest of Indian sub-continent.

The big unknown is Africa - South Africa and Zimbabwe are known hotspots, but getting reliable date from across the continent is almost impossible.

It will be a couple of years before a more realistic assessment can be made - in the meantime, treat official figures from anywhere as purely indicative of trends.

It seems I’ve just had a call to arms.  The company I work for has taken on a contract to assemble visors for the NHS.  They phoned to say I am no longer furloughed as I’m needed to work, starting tomorrow.  Had it been to do anything else, I’d refuse, but as it’s providing the much needed PPE for the NHS, I’d be really pleased to do this.  

Essential work.

An important point made here which the UK should consider when the future of the NHS comes up for discussion. In bold:

Certain medical factors support this argument. High testing rates do not just help authorities monitor coronavirus’s spread but also help them fight its lethality: by quarantining people who have or may have the virus, by shielding the most vulnerable and by getting medical attention to people early to increase their chances of survival. Thanks partly to [Germany's] its decentralised health system (where providers can get on with things on their own initiative)

Germany was able to introduce testing and contact-tracing in early February and ramp up the measures quickly. “Germany recognised its own outbreak very early on,” Christian Drosten, a top virologist, tells Die Zeit newspaper: “We’re two or three weeks ahead of some of our neighbours.” And Berlin wants to continue expanding testing. A leaked confidential paper from the federal interior ministry, which has apparently been presented to Spahn and Angela Merkel, proposes adopting the South Korean model of mass testing and increasing the rate to 200,000 a day by the end of April.

https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2020/03/why-are-germany-and-austria-s-coronavirus-death-rates-so-low

 Sorry to hear that. 

It goes to show that we do have the means to produce many things we’d usually import.  Companies can diversify with a little imagination.  This could be a lesson in how to think outside the box!   

Spain report data every 12 hours. 

I have just raised my cup of coffee to you, Caz. I salute you.

Not having an NHS could be an advantage - Germany uses the social insurance model.

But if Germany decides to go down the South Korean route of containment and contact tracing, it means they will have to adopt South Korean levels of border control, which goes against the grain for Merkel and her government. You cannot both contain the virus and have open borders with freedom of movement - it really is either/or.

We went to blood donors last Tuesday. Hubby got the last available appointment online and sadly, I missed out but I went along with him as usual, hoping I might get a cancellation with people self isolating.  They couldn’t fit me in though, as they’d only got seven staff on duty due to some self isolating and they’d already cancelled some appointments.  

I sat outside in the sunshine, on a grassy bank and waited for hubby to do something amazing!  

Good stuff Caz, just be extra careful and stay safe.

There is actually a surprisingly good stock of blood in Scotland currently, enough for 11 days in my blood group (with the target to keep levels having a 6 day supply). I am going to hold off until the supplies become more depleted so I can maximise the benefit of my donation.

Good stuff re. your work Caz and thanks.